Right now the development is stalled once again but since with its grand strategy mode Wyrmsun has shown it to be possible to have switching to a different child game mode entirely during a parent one and then return to the parent, I began thinking about what could be done with such a possibility. I don't think a grand strategy mode like Wyrmsun's is the right way to go since a well-made one would basically be its own game and I'm the only developer, but somewhat separate strategic and tactical modes might work in order to have a larger scale in the game instead of just a few hundred troops at best.

Strategic mode

The strategic mode is fairly close to normal RTS play. It's where buildings are built, troops recruited and moved to attack the enemies. However, they don't fight in this mode (maybe with the exception of siege engines). Instead one unit on the strategic map can signify up to 50 units in tactical mode. Probably 60 cycles (two seconds in normal speed, I believe) could mean a day, meaning a year would be about 12 minutes when the game is not sped up or slowed down.

Town center and its upgraded forms (4x4, cannot be built right next to other buildings) is where workers, supply wagons and settlers (the latter consumes 50 manpower) are recruited, resources can be stored and possibly some strategic decisions are made.

Districts (3x3, cannot be built right next to other buildings) store 100 manpower each but later on can be upgraded to hold 150 manpower with "city planning" technology, and can be upgraded to "apartment buildings" (or whatever we want to call them) that can hold twice the manpower. They consume a lot of food and require an excess of manpower to replenish. If a settler group builds a district, they become the initial population of it (not giving back the 50 manpower, however) and the unit is deleted from the game. Districts have to be built in the vicinity of (not necessarily right next to) a town center or a market.

Cottages (3x3), farms (4x4) and advanced farms (4x4) produce food. The rate is dependent on the month or season but maybe one cottage could feed 50 manpower, a farm 100, and after the "better farms" technology 150. They can be moved through. They are "mined" by supply wagons for food which can be sent to a town center or a market or consumed by nearby troops.

Guard towers (2x2), barracks (3x3) and hero guilds (3x3) are for actually recruiting troops. They don't need to be located close to a district, though. When clicking on them, there is an interface to select what kind of a company the player wishes to recruit. They can consist of multiple unit types but have a maximum troop amount of 50. Each troop requires one manpower and a small quantity of resources to recruit. However, even if the player is out of manpower, they can still put more companies on queue in order to minimize micromanagement.

Other buildings function the same as in regular Battle for Mandicor but their sizes are adjusted.

Most buildings are conquered, not destroyed, but it does take, depending on the building, a few seconds with a full 50 troop company (more if less troops).

Also, when a tactical battle is over the winning company has to pause for a bit because it's not like the battles happen instantly. This should make leaving troops behind to slow down an overwhelming opponent a viable tactic. However, how long they have to pause depends on the number of troops they had to fight.

Up to two companies can be placed inside buildings to defend them, in which case in the tactical mode they'll start in easily defendable positions.

Troops should still move at the same speed as in regular Battle for Mandicor because much faster would be very difficult to manage.

Since the player has a lot of area to cover with a small amount of companies, they might actually use scouts and the patrolling feature more. Also, since buildings can be captured so quickly, the player has to think very carefully how they will be able to defend them.

When selecting companies, they can be consolidated into one or split into smaller companies.

Companies consume food somewhat slowly, but still consume it. That's why they should travel with supply wagons. If there's no food, they'll start losing hit points. Normally hit points do recover over time, but serious injuries like broken bones will have to be treated and they might never recover their full fighting ability then.

Tactical mode

A switch to tactical mode happens when a company attacks another.

Here players fight one company's troops against the other one's troops (or possibly two companies in the case of defending a building) in a randomized map where no buildings units exist or can be built. However, if the defender was inside a building, the map is semi-randomized in such a way that the building is part of the terrain somewhere and the defenders are in it in tactical positions waiting for the attacker to rush in. If the attacker has siege engines, they can probably force the defenders out, though, by destroying their hiding place (but it might be destroyed in the strategic mode also).

There should also be a tactical AI. It should use formations when moving, have one line of bowmen stay in front of melee troops that have bowmen in a staggered formation between them also. When an enemy comes nearer, they'll move the bowmen a bit so that the melee troops can get through and defend them. Also, the AI should try to station their troops in front of any possible bottlenecks and defend them very vigorously. Also, hurt troops should try to retreat a few steps if they still have healthy comrades.

It should be possible to retreat with the troops by moving them to the side of the map.

When a battle ends, the remaining troops and hit points of alive troops should be reflected in the strategic mode.